Manuel Flores Says He's Not Crazy; Wants Out of Mental Hospital

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas didn't want Manuel Flores freed from prison after the sex offender served a 16-month sentence for throwing rocks and a bottle of beer at a police officer, and then speaking in tongues when he was read his Miranda rights.

By labeling Flores a mentally disordered offender, Rackauckas has kept him involuntarily locked in a psychiatric hospital for more than a decade beyond his 1999 criminal sentence.

Flores says his confinement isn't fair, but you be the judge because he:

--Heard mysterious voices speaking to him;--Lodged a nail in his shoe so it could be used as a weapon;--Kept a shank in his pocket;--Spit obsessively and reacted violently when confronted;--Regularly hallucinated;--Refused to take medication;--Lit a paper towel roll under his bed and then denied the act; --Attacked other patients and threatened to kill hospital staffers;and--In Oct. 2010, Flores became "extremely paranoid and suspicious" when he declared that he didn't know how to breathe," according to court records.

A 2012 jury heard the evidence--including that a psychiatrist declared him "severely" disturbed--and sided with Rackauckas. Flores appealed. Through a lawyer, he argues that records of his behavior are not reliable and should not be considered in evaluating whether he's in la-la land.

This month, a California Court of Appeal based in Santa Ana sanctioned the jury's findings and declared that even when he's properly medicated Flores continues "to pose a substantial danger."

R. Scott Moxley’s award-winning investigative journalism has touched nerves for two decades. An angry congressman threatened to break Moxley’s knee caps. A dirty sheriff promised his critical reporting was irrelevant and then landed in prison. Corporate crooks won’t take his calls. Murderous gangsters mad-dogged him in court. The U.S. House of Representatives debated his work. Pusillanimous cops have left hostile messages using fake names. Federal prosecutors credited his stories for the arrest of a doctor who sold fake medicine to dying patients. And a frantic state legislator literally caught sleeping with lobbyists sprinted down state capital hallways to evade his questions in Sacramento. Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club and been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists.